Choices
by tabula
Summary: Read, see what you think and review


Awakening in the darkness, his hand reached out to the bedside table. Picking up the clock and squinting he saw the time. Three am. He sighed as he returned the clock to its place on the table and rolled onto his back, his hand reaching to his eye's to wipe away the last traces of sleep.

'How can you be so blasé?' She smirked slightly, trying to hide it at her friends comment. 'Blasé?' she replied, knowing how it sounded. Although she'd tried for easy going and detached, it came out more the sound of a train screeching down the tracks. 'You know what I mean' that voice again, sounding so confident. She turned her head to look at its origin, and gave her best attempt at blasé. ' See! That's exactly what I'm talking about' She rolled her eyes as she turned her back on her Angela and walked out of the room.

Apart from the lack of sleep, he felt ok. Well, not ok, but able to function. He entered the lab earlier than his usual time, checking his watch as he walked. The action was automatic, his eyes searching for something to look at in the absence of what he really needed to see. As he rounded the corner he saw her. Stopping in his tracks, trying to stay quiet, he leaned against the doorframe. She was leaning over a workstation, staring intently at the microscope in front of her. He sighed inwardly, his heart missing a beat, a usual event on sightings of her.

She leant over a little more, sensing something behind her. A shadow fell over the table, just for a second, and she knew he was there. He often did this, standing behind her and observing her, thinking she was unaware. Never, she felt his presence even before he'd entered the lab. Feeling that perhaps she should say something, she leant back a little and thought better of it. Even if he didn't realise that she could feel him, she liked the secret intimacy of moments like these.

He needed to break his gaze. Clearing his throat, he entered the room. He faltered only for a moment before placing his trademark smile on his lips. 'Hello Bones' was all he could manage, the rest of his sentence getting stuck, as if the words were chocking him. He cleared his throat again, trying to bring a little normality to his demeanour, knowing that she could read him like a book.

Hearing his voice she turned her head to face him, keeping her body as still as possible. He looked rough, unshaven and tired, not his usual self at all. If she didn't know better she would have said he'd had a hard night's sleep. But she didn't probe, knowing that if he wanted to mention it he would. 'Hello Booth' smiling at him, she tried to keep her voice steady, mimicking his greeting. And that was it. There seemed nothing else to say, and across the room, their eyes met in a silent, private discussion.

It seemed like they'd been still for an age, however when Zack entered the room it had been only a few short moments. 'Dr. Brennan, look at the…' Zack's voice trailed off as he realised he had in fact interrupted something. He wasn't entirely sure what though. 'Dr. Brennan?' he tried again. After a moment she seemed to register his presence. 'Hey, Zack, Sorry what was that?' woken from her reverie she closed her eyes, breaking their stone gaze. 'Nothing important, I just wanted you to take a look at this slide while you were, you know, here' he'd lost her around 'nothing' he sighed and excused himself from the room, although neither of it's occupants noticed.

When she opened her eyes Booth was sitting it the chair to the left of her, at a reasonably safe distance. Trying to avoid his eyes, she looked again down the microscope, seeing nothing but his eyes in her mind. 'You're here early' she broke the silence, feeling that someone needed to. 'I couldn't sleep' She looked at him again, briefly meeting his eyes, and then settling on his clothing. She smiled to herself as she looked down his shirt, noticing that he had missed a buttonhole. 'Uh, Booth… you missed one' gesturing to his shirt. He looked at her, a confused look on his face. Sighing, she stood up and motioned for him to do the same. He stood, stretching his arms out. She took a step towards him, faltered for a moment, watching him. Smiling at the easiness he had in her presence, she closed the short distance between them, reaching to unbutton his shirt.

'Bones?' he enquired as she began to unbutton his shirt. Not that he minded, but it was a little out of character for her. ' I told you, you missed one' Finally realising what she was getting at he lowered his head to see that he had in fact buttoned his shirt wrong. He let out a short laugh, meeting her gaze again and smiling. Again she broke the look, blushing a little as she unbuttoned the last button. 'Now, watch and learn' She smiled as she began buttoning his shirt again, slowly as if to really teach him how to go about buttoning, meeting his gaze once again

'So this is what you guys do if we leave you alone to long' that voice again, brimming on the edge of laughter. Angela loved catching either Booth or Brennan or both in these seemingly innocent moments. ' Sweetie don't stop now, you've nearly got him' She threw a wink in Booths direction before leaving the room at a fast pace, knowing that fast get away was best after a comment such as she'd made.

'Sorry about that' he noticed she was blushing again. 'All done' she smoothed the front of his shirt a little, savouring the closeness for a moment longer before she stepped away from him. Booth didn't move, standing patiently, waiting for Bones to decide where to go. He knew from experience that it was never a good idea to invade her space unless she offered the chance. As she stepped back he felt his body tense up, an involuntary action, but a telling one none the less.

'So, anything new?' She smiled again, returning to her place in front of the microscope, needing to break the tension that was filling the room. 'Nothing' he limited himself to one-word answers, his throat still tight, words still stuck. 'Dr Brennan!' they turned towards the door in unison to see Zack standing against the doorframe. 'You didn't hear a word of that did you?' Zack asked in a slightly exasperated voice.

'Look I better get to work' Booth motioned to the door as he spoke. 'Sure' she replied trying to smile through the disappointment 'we'll see you later no doubt' Although he had excused himself, Booth found himself unable to leave, drinking in the sight of her one last time, he sighed, outwardly this time, tearing his eyes from hers, he walked from the room.

'Sweetie, I'm just trying to look out for you, as a friend' Angela was trying to avoid a confrontation about her earlier comments, 'Ang, I do not need you to look out for me, especially around Booth. We're work partners, nothing more, and nothing less. All of you' she addressed the three of them 'remember that'. 'Dr Brennan' Zack started ' We do remember that, and I'm sure that Angela meant no harm from her inappropriate comments about you tucking Agent Booth's shirt in'. Bones sighed. Obviously, working so closely with people meant that news travelled fast, but this speed was ridiculous. 'Ok topic closed. Please….' she knew she sounded defeated, and hoped that her tone would have the desired effect. 'Sorry sweetie, consider this the last time today that we mention the tucking in of Booth's shirt' Angela shot at her before grinning and leaving again at a swift pace. She turned to look at the boys, who had gotten bored of the conversation long before and returned to work.

He'd booked the holiday over a month ago, meaning to maybe go abroad, maybe ask Bones to come, just as friends, to get away from all the death and well, bones, if only for a short time. But he hadn't been able to build up the courage to ask her, and so here he was, two weeks off work and sitting on a bench outside the Jeffersonian Institute. He sighed again, the lack of sleep grating on his mind. Never mind, he thought, you can always go alone. He thumbed the tickets he held in his hand, two tickets to Austria, skiing, for ten days. The flight was in less than five hours, and it looked like he would be going alone.

'You're still here?' he turned towards the voice that had interrupted his thoughts. 'Heya Angela' he forced a smile. ' No important FBI work for you to be getting into?' she sat on the bench beside him, noticing that he was holding what looked like airplane tickets. 'Actually' he began, turning his face to hers 'I have holiday, two weeks of holiday' She noticed that he sounded pretty down about the fact. 'So why so glum?' she elbowed him lightly, trying to lift his mood. He looked at her a moment longer than he needed to, thinking to himself, 'what the hell'. He slowly handed her the tickets. As she took them she felt his grip tighten upon them. Shaking his head ever so slightly he released them into her possession.

'Wow' she let out a sharp breath. 'And I guess you didn't tell her' she stated, more than asked as she handed them back to him. ' Nope' She brought a hand to his chin, forcing his gaze onto hers 'Honey, go back in there and show her. Tell her that you'll take her home to pack now and go. Go enjoy yourselves.' She held his face still as he tried to look down. 'I said go!' He smiled at her determination, looking down at the tickets in his hands. 'It's to late... to late to explain… she'll close up' He saw movement from the corner of his eye, she was shaking her head 'No she won't, trust me… she wants to open up… she wants to live in the world.' He considered this for a moment. Suddenly he stood. 'You know what… what have I got to lose?' He began to walk towards the entrance doors, turning briefly to throw a wink in the direction of Angela.

His body felt alive now, adrenaline rushing through his heart. He was not the type of guy that got nervous, ever. But the thought of Bones closing up, even a little, after all the work he and her friends had done drawing her out, broke his heart. However, he could not allow the two of them to live in the bubble of work forever. He knew that it would never be enough. 'Bones' she turned sharply upon hearing her name, knowing the voice, but not expecting the body.

'Booth, back so soon' she recovered well from the sight of him. He brought himself to a halt only a step or two in front of her. Only then did she notice that he was holding something out to her. Unsure of what to do, she slowly raised her hand to take the paper from him. 'Uh, Booth?', tickets. Plane tickets. She felt that barrier, the one she'd spent years building, working it's way up from her legs, inching closer to her heart with every passing moment.

'You don't have to' he began, seeing the flash in her eyes ' but you see, I have holiday… and I thought that maybe you'd like to come, you know, ski with me. As friends.' He added the last with warm, calm eyes, hoping to draw her back out of the shell that seemed to be consuming her before his eyes. She took a deep, shaky breath. Exhaling, she stared again at the tickets she held in her hand. Skiing. Something that she enjoyed, but rarely found time for. But skiing with Booth… she had no idea what to do from here. She just stared. After what felt like hours, she met his gaze. He waited patiently, his hope dying a little with each moment that she allowed to pass. She smiled at him, handing the tickets back into his still open hand. 'So we have five hours?'


End file.
